Clemson 27, Boston College 7

What Happened: Clemson’s defense shut down and shut out the Boston College offense – especially after knocking QB Anthony Brown out of the game – and Trevor Lawrence did the rest. The freshman threw a two-yard touchdown pass and ran for a score, but the Tigers finally put the game well out of reach on a punt return for a score from Amari Rodgers. BC’s only score came on a punt return from Michael Walker for a 7-3 lead – but Clemson scored 24 unanswered points.

What Mattered: Lawrence threw a late pick, but he was fine, completing 29-of-40 passes for 295 yards and a score. Travis Etienne ran for just 78 yards – the ground game was slowed down – but, again, the defense took care of things.

– Boston College managed just nine rushing yards. AJ Dillon was bottled up for 39 yards on 16 carries, but the Tiger D line dominated with ten tackles for loss and four sacks. EJ Perry stepped in for Brown and completed 12-of-21 passes for 98 yards, and ran for seven.

– 424 yards to 113. That was the final tally as BC never threatened after the Walker punt return.

What It All Means: Clemson was fine. It wasn’t amazing like it was over the last few weeks, but it did the job. It’s in the ACC title game, but it has to get by Duke and South Carolina to stay perfect and make sure it’s in the College Football Playoff. One loss would make this interesting considering how bad the ACC is.

– How hurt is Brown? He was reportedly hospitalized after taking a huge hit. Now the Eagles get a trip to Florida State and date with Syracuse, but they’re already bowl eligible. Now they’re just jockeying for position.